Fantasy Friday (Dec. 3)

Another week of Fantasy basketball is here. There have been some great player this week, as well as some disappointing players, so lets take a look at all of them.

Over-Performers Of The Week

1. Alec Burks: This guy has been big for his team. In this past week he has averaged 20.3 PPG, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Not to mention the 46% behind the arc.
2. Arron Afflalo: Has 31 points in one night and 13 in the next. He has played pretty well. Not to mention he is gathering ton of rebounds and shooting lights out from the field.
3. Pau Gasol: 17.7 PPG, 14.3 RPG, 3.7 APG, and 2.3 BLPG this week. That is over-performing or Pau.

Under-Performers Of The Week

1. Jahlil Okafor: His off-court issues might be contributing to this, but he has been not playing so hot of late. This week, he has shot 36% from the field and has just averaged 10 PPG. Not to great.
2. Nerlens Noel: Jahlil's front-court buddy hasn't been the best either. In his last 3 games he has averaged just 7.7 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 1 steals, and 0.3 blocks with 2.7 turnovers and 36% shooting. Philly's big boys have not been that great this last week.  

Pick-ups Of The Week

1. Mirza Teletovic: He has been playing great this week averaging over 15 PPG and 4 three-pointers. He is owned by 18% in Yahoo and 9.4% on ESPN.
2. Rodney Stuckey: This week has been great for him averaging 15.3 points, 5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals. He is owned by 5% in Yahoo and 5.2% in ESPN.

I didn't include Isaiah Canaan on the Pick-ups because Tony Wroten and Kendall Marshall are coming back to the 76ers and he will get less production. Hope you all have a great week in fantasy and I hope to see you next week here on NBA Inside The Play Nation!

Fantasy Fridays: Power Forwards

Power Forwards will give you rebounding and blocks. The best ones are the ones that will give you multiple 3 pointers. Power Forwards are necessary to having a great fantasy team. If you have ones that are dominant in the post and can stretch the floor, it's very beneficial. So you want some great PF's, well here are the top 10.

10. Thaddeus Young: Now with the Nets, he will have to take on a bigger scoring load. I certainly can see the PF averaging at least 16 PPG. One big thing is that he is a power forward that can steal the ball. He averaged 1.6 steals last season. He will also knock down a couple of 3s from time to time. He knows his role and I expect Thadd to do great next season.

9. Serge Ibaka: Averaging 2.5 blocks per game last season, Serge was doing great. He averaged 14.3 PPG last season, however, with Kanter, Durant, and Westbrook, I fear that could decline. However, that isn't was it is about for Serge because it's the little things that matter for him. Serge averages 7.8 rebounds, 0.5 steals, and shoots a great 37.6% from 3 points range and makes about 1 per game. Serge will get you quite a few things that many PFs will not.

8. Pau Gasol: Pau is going to have his numbers drop this next season no doubt. He really isn't that best fantasy player and struggles with consistency. While he averaged a double-double, that will be most likely not the case next year. I have a strong feeling that he will average around 15 PPG next season and about 8 rebounds, mainly because of Derrick Rose returning, and the rise of Jimmy Butler.

7. Paul Millsap: The Hawks played great last year, and Paul Millsap had a lot to do with that. Millsap last year averaged 16.7 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 3.1 APG, 0.9 Blocks, and 1.8 steals. No doubt he will continue this next year and could find an increase in points and rebounds. I would assume that Millsap will be a great fantasy player to grab.

6. Dirk Nowitzki: He is a lights out shooter and will be great to have on your fantasy team as always. Dirk is getting old however and his PPG will most likely drop a little. He was never the best rebounder, so don't get him for that reason. But Dirk will shoots lights out from FT, 3, and FG.

5. Kevin Love: Hopefully, he will have a better season than last year. That's what we hope. And if are hopes come true, fantasy owners with him on their team, will be rewarded. Kevin Love used to have 26 PPG and 13 RPG with the Wolves but production sure has slowed down with the Cavs. Hopefully the Cavs will incorporate him into the offense a little more and he will have an increase in stats.

4. Chris Bosh: he averaged over 20 PPG last season, and hopefully he will do the same after his recovery from the blood clots on his lungs. The only problem with Bosh is he isn't the best rebounder and doesn't have much else to offer other than scoring. So that is what I recommend using him for, scoring.

3. LaMarcus Aldridge: He is definitely going to have one of his best seasons yet and I expect his defensive numbers to rise. LaMarcus will no doubt get more rebounds than ever and will be faced with lots more assists and scoing opportunities in the Popovich system. Aldridge is going to be a great fantasy player this year so pick him up if you can.

2. Anthony Davis: 24.4 PPG, 10.2 RPG, 2.2 APG, 1.5 Steals, 2.9 Blocks, 80% FT, and 53.5% FG in his 3rd season. Nuff Said...

1. Blake Griffin: "What, this can't be right, Blake Griffin in front of Anthony Davis! How can this be!" Yeah, well guess what. The 2015 playoffs were unlike anything we have ever seen from Blake Griffin and I personally think that Blake is about to enter Stardom. In 14 games in the playoffs, Blake averaged 25.5 PPG, 12.7 RPG, 6.1 APG, 1 Steal per game, and 1 block per game. I figure that this will continue into the 2015-16 season and it will also improve. I have a feeling that Blake will be doing some stuff that we have never seen from anyone before and I think Blake will be the ultimate fantasy player to get. With Chris Paul slowly decreasing on the scoring side, I expect Blake to take on an even bigger scoring load.

Well, there you have it. The Power Forwards will most likely be the best fantasy position this year. There is so much talent so make sure you stock up on some great PFs.

Cavaliers VS Bulls (game 2)

Final Score: Cavaliers win 106-91



Series tied 1-1

Is this a rewind. Deja vu? I think it could be. The Bulls always seem to win game 1 then lose the next 4 when they play LeBron in the playoffs. Well, it could be a coincidence. And here how the Bulls can make it so the rewind doesn't happen.

The Bulls need everybody to perform much better. Let's take a look at the individual performances of all these players.

• Pau Gasol: 11 points, 3 turnovers, 4 rebounds, and 3-8 from the field
• Joakim Noah: 4 points, 4 shot attempts, 0-2 from the free-throw line
• Jimmy Butler: 18 points, 2-7 from 3pt range, 1 assist, -26 plus/minus advantage
• Derrick Rose: 14 points, 6-20 from the field, -13 plus/minus advantage
• Aaron Brooks: 4 points, 1-8 from the field, 0-4 from 3pt range

And those were the worst. They can't have that. They can't afford it. Kirk Hinrich played great shooting 3-3 from the field and 2-2 from three point range. He was only played for 12:18 minutes though. That is just disappointing. You obviously need to play him more. Some things need to change for this Bulls team.

This Cavs team was amazing. Yes, LeBron and Kyrie had a combined 54 points but I want to focus on Iman Shumpert and James Jones. Shumpert had 15 points while he shot 4-7 from deep. James Jones had17 points off the bench as he shot a surprising 5-9 from 3-point range. However, James Jones didn't win them the game, he just kept them in it. The team had a plus/minus advantage of -1 when he was on the floor. So he obviously just helped them stay in the game. If he wasn't there though, the Cavs would have lost the lead because their bench would have played so bad. Again, I'm still waiting for this Cavs team to play Marion more. He is very skilled and they need to use him. Other than that, this team is playing great. If they win their next 3, I will start thinking that it is impossible for the Bulls to win a playoff series against LeBron.

Cavaliers VS Bulls (game 1)

Final Score: Bulls win 99-92



Bulls lead series 1-0

Bulls had full control in this game and the Cavaliers better step it up. Let's take a second on what the Cavaliers need to change for game 2.

Cavaliers will still not have J.R. Smith and Kevin Love for game 2, so they absolutely need to put Tristan Thompson into the lineup. They also should play Shawn Marion more. He is a skilled player. Why did they get him? Was it so they could have someone to play the nights they were resting LeBron? No, Marion is a great player. LeBron also needs to play better. He had 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 9 assists. Sure that looks good, but he only shot 9-22 from the field, 0-3 from 3 point range, and had a total of 6 turnovers. Let Kyrie handle the ball. He is a much better decision maker than LeBron. I hate it how this team has one of the best Point Guards in the league with the best handles and can pass and they don't even use him. They also need more from their bench. The bench only had 16 points. They didn't play well at all in this game. They need to play better.

The Bulls handled this game well. Joakim Noah needs to step up a little. He didn't have a single point and had 4 turnovers. Mike Dunleavy played really great. He shot 5-6 from the field and 3-4 from 3-point range. Pau Gasol played really well as he had 21 points, 10 rebounds and shot 10-16 from the field. Not to mention, Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler had great games as well. I really think that it is smart not to play Nikola Mirotic in this round. They do need their bench to play well though. This Bulls team will start to get tired through the round and they need to have a bench that can produce. They did look okay in this game though.

That's all from this game. This will be an interesting series. Let's see who will win game 2.